Posted 2009-04-30 4:12 PM (#104225) Subject: best place to camp??
Regular
Posts: 91 Location: Hill Country, Texas
We live in south Texas and are wanting to go camping. We're looking at Cedar Lake or Horse Heaven in Oklahoma. (I'm from Indiana and have not found a good place to ride and camp in this part of the country yet :(
We need a good RV site for a 40 ft trailer, electric and water, the best trails...shade, not too rugged (hills and/or rocky)...
Any suggestions?
Posted 2009-04-30 9:50 PM (#104243 - in reply to #104225) Subject: RE: best place to camp??
Regular
Posts: 93 Location: ark/ok border
Sorry to tell you this but Oklahoma is one big rock! Been to both camps and like Cedar Lake best. Roads and parking sites are mostly paved, all sites have corrals, and not to close together. At horse Haven more expensive per nite, you must bag your stall leavings, camp sites are not set up user friendly, trails are not that great either. We have living quarters so I'm not sure about the bathrooms. They also let motorcycles roam in and out of the camp( some came thru at 3am), amd the next day they roared out not caring if they scared the horses. Depending on the time of the year your coming watering holes at Cedar Lake dry up if you get on some of the longer trails. If your coming say in June or July Lonesome D in New Blaine AR is your best bet. It is on a creek and all trails cross it several times. Happy Trails
Posted 2009-05-05 9:37 PM (#104516 - in reply to #104225) Subject: RE: best place to camp??
Member
Posts: 5
Location: Oklahoma City
It may be a little far for you but Lake Carl Blackwell in Stillwater, OK has a nice campground. There are nice water/elect sites that are separate from the day-use parking area. The campground has port-a-poties with a bathhouse nearby. I haven't used the bath house so I can't comment on the cleanliness. There is a dump station near the bath house. The campground is flat with water tanks for horses and each site has poles for high lines. There is also plenty of room for a portable corral if you use that. There are miles and miles of trails from open flat meadows to some rocky trails that have more ups and downs. You could ride for hours and not see the same trail. All trails are color coded and well marked and the campground has a map with distances of each trail and they are interconnected so you can ride one for a while and then pick up another.
To get to Lake Carl Blackwell, take I-35 to highway 51 (Stillwater/OSU exit), go east about 5-6 miles and the entrance to the park is on the north side of the road. The equestrian campground is on the main entrance road on your right. The camping sites are only back in sites but they are large enough to accomdate large rigs.
I have heard many good reviews from folks around here about Sportsman's Lake near Seminole, OK. I haven't been but many ladies here go there several times a year. If you are looking more at the South Eastern part of OK, there is A to Z Guest Ranch. It's in the same vicinity as Horse Heaven. Also in that area is Robber's Cave State Park and it has an equestrian campground. Robbler's Cave is rocky near the camp but gets less rocky the farther out you go. I would have your horse shod if you were going there.
Posted 2009-05-05 10:04 PM (#104520 - in reply to #104225) Subject: RE: best place to camp??
Member
Posts: 5
Location: Oklahoma City
I just remembered another place in South Eastern Oklahoma. It's called the J D Trail Riding and Horse Camp. It's located in Octavia OK in the Kiamichi mountains. I haven't been there (yet...) but I would love to go. Since it's located in the Kiamici's they recommend shoes. Some trails are on logging roads so there may be areas that are less rocky.
Posted 2009-05-05 10:11 PM (#104522 - in reply to #104225) Subject: RE: best place to camp??
New User
Posts: 1
Location: McDade Texas
Nails Creek State Park is a great place to camp and ride. Many miles of trails and the equestrian sites - electricity, water and pens - are excellent. Nails Creek is east of Giddings Texas.
Posted 2009-05-05 10:38 PM (#104525 - in reply to #104225) Subject: RE: best place to camp??
Expert
Posts: 2828 Location: Southern New Mexico
If you want something closer to home you could check out Bandera State park. It's been quite a while since I've been there but they had primitive campsites (saw lots of RV's/LQ/s there) and corrals. They also had a barn but we never used it. It's hilly but the trails weren't bad and there is a fairly flat road you can ride.
Oh, it is rocky in spots but not bad. We always rode it barefoot.
Posted 2009-05-06 5:53 AM (#104531 - in reply to #104225) Subject: RE: best place to camp??
Member
Posts: 30 Location: mt. vernon,ar 72111
Just got back from j-d Trail Riding for the 2nd.Been to most in OK and like this one the best.Least rocks I have found anywhere,Lots of riding from short loops in the trees to long up the mountain.Try their web and read the reviews.They are all true.
Posted 2009-06-15 8:04 PM (#106504 - in reply to #104225) Subject: RE: best place to camp??
Expert
Posts: 1205 Location: Arkansas
One place that is not much further at all is in the SW corner of Missouri........the trails are all in the woods, and lots of creek crossings. We have got in there easily with a 1 ton super cab with a 9' bed pulling a 10' short wall 3h. Oh yeah, the name is Huckleberry Stables, and the hosts are horse people and very agreeable and pleasant. Stalls or pens . Nice place and nice folks. We like Cedar Lake and Lonesome D too.....have not ridden Horse Heaven specifically..
Posted 2009-06-16 12:23 PM (#106532 - in reply to #104225) Subject: RE: best place to camp??
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 303 Location: Grapeland, Texas
I have been to Huckleberry Stables and Rick is a great host and the riding was great. If you want to stay in Texas you may want to try Ebenezer Park on Sam Rayburn Lake. The sites are nice. Have pens, hook ups, picnic tables, fire rings and they have a real nice bath house. It was real clean when I was there. The web site says it has 11 or so miles of trails, but that is just in the park. It joins the Angelina Forest and you can ride for miles. And what's nice in the summer is that there is a place you can take your horse down on the banks of the lake to a real nice beach.
I forgot to add that there are a couple of sites that will handle a rig that big.
Posted 2009-06-16 1:01 PM (#106536 - in reply to #104225) Subject: RE: best place to camp??
Elite Veteran
Posts: 681 Location: Corpus Christi, Texas
I agree with Terri and suggest Bandera.. So far, it's the only place where I've camped... The trails are quite rocky in places, but we do them barefoot.. Most are not real hard, but there are a few steep climbs and almost all are enough to give a horse some work..there are probably 30 miles of interconnecting trails and you could ride there for a week and not ride the exact same trail twice.. Some of the hills actually have probably 2000 feet elevation, and although it's not a mountain, per se, you DO get to sit at the top and look over quite a bit of countryside..i only primitive camp, but there are some decent campsites with iron corrals and there is a cummunity horse water tank at the horse campsites.. You'll have to bring water for yourself, tho.. Right now, it's pretty hot.. Went there for one night last week; rode morning and evening..just hung out during the day. It cooled off at night, so was fairly comfortable sleeping... we needed a light blanket by 2-3 Am. The bugs weren't too bad, even with me reading by lantern light.
Posted 2009-06-24 8:14 PM (#107005 - in reply to #104225) Subject: RE: best place to camp??
Member
Posts: 18
I have camped in all the places mentioned, Devil's Den Cedar Lake, Hill Country, We just got back from Buffalo River Arkansas this week it is awesome. If you're wanting to stay in texas what about Big Bend we've been there also it also is good. Cedar Lake is really good but i liked Buffalo river the best the river trails are easy and the scenery is great. J d's campground is good but we had a problem with some trails. We are riding with a child and i'm glad he stayed in the camp that day. We ran into some large clear cut logging which wasn't pretty but Jo is great.
Posted 2009-06-24 8:56 PM (#107011 - in reply to #104225) Subject: RE: best place to camp??
Elite Veteran
Posts: 681 Location: Corpus Christi, Texas
I have never camped or ridden in the Big Bend area and would LOVE to hear whatever you can tell me about it... I know it's too hot right now, but maybe in the fall...?
Posted 2009-06-29 8:01 PM (#107301 - in reply to #104225) Subject: RE: best place to camp??
Member
Posts: 18
We camped in Big Bend about 10 years ago. The one thing if it is the same is that the corrals are not at the main trail head. We had to trailer to most of those. I will say that we rode in some canyons so deep that i almost couldn't see the sun it was awesome. I really prefer creeks and rivers the best. But this was fun. We did have to haul water at that time. There was a trail called the south rim i stood on the edge and looked 60 miles into Mexico. We also took a day trip went across the river into mexice and had a lunch. They have corralw but don not hold 4 horses like they said but rather 2 and they had better get along. Remember it is desert. At that time it was hikers and riders on the same trail. Of course i have never found a place i just hate cause i do like to ride and would like to ride more and camp more especially since we just got a LQ trailer. This is as much as i remember. It was a while back I hope they still let riders in.
best place to camp??
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